Friday, October 29, 2010

N.J.'s past may be Illinois' future: What to expect if you're expecting Gov. Bill Brady

The traditionally blue state is drowning in red ink — budget deficits in excess of $10 billion, massive shortfalls in the pension funds — and the Republican candidate for governor says he knows how to stanch the flow.

He promises to cut spending and taxes, eliminate "waste, fraud and abuse" and get flinty with public employees while protecting and preserving vital programs such as education. He brushes off critics and the Democratic incumbent who say he's not nearly specific enough about where exactly he'll find billions of savings in the budget.

New Jersey one year ago sounds an awful lot like Illinois today.

Voters there went on to give the brash challenger, Chris Christie (left), a 3.6 percentage-point victory. And since Christie has traveled to Illinois to campaign for GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady, who openly admires Christie's record, it's relevant to ask how things are working out in the Garden State.

First, Christie did cut the budget — to $31.9 billion authorized for the current year from $33.3 billion in state spending authorized by former Gov. Jon Corzine for fiscal 2010, according to figures provided by the nonpartisan New Jersey Office of Legislative Services, a state agency.

That's a 4.2 percent trim, well short of the 10 percent Brady is promising in Illinois, but real money nevertheless.

How did Christie do it? Nips and tucks here and there, but mostly by cutting education funding, reducing state aid to local units of government and suspending a property-tax rebate program for seniors and lower- and middle-income taxpayers.

During last year's campaign, Christie pledged to restore cuts Corzine had made to the rebate program, cuts he blasted then as tantamount to "war on the middle class."

Christie also campaigned against the "unconscionable" practice of state borrowing to make required annual payments into pension funds. His solution after he was sworn in earlier this year? He skipped the $3.1 billion pension payment altogether.

He's also now under fire for his recent decision to pull out of a project to build a tunnel connecting New Jersey to New York City because he said his state couldn't afford its $3.5 billion share of the cost. Supporters of the project say it would have easily repaid that investment over time, and Christie is being pennywise.

Tax cuts? Christie's main achievement so far in this area has been to allow an income-tax surcharge on those earning more than $400,000 to expire, and to veto legislation that would have kept that surcharge only on those who earn more than $1 million a year.

He also signed a cap of 2 percent per year on hikes in property taxes — taxes that a Gannett newspapers study found grew this year by an average 23 percent if you factor in the missing rebate. Such a cap sounds great, but critics say it's simply part of a shell game Christie is playing to force municipalities to own the painful cuts ahead.

"We send about two-thirds of our budget right back to schools and local governments," said New Jersey Democratic Party Chairman John Wisniewski. "Reduce that, and the locals either have to cut services or raise taxes," which will be very difficult under the cap.

Wisniewski said he's dismayed by the claims of Christie and his growing national fan base that his no-nonsense approach to governing has eliminated a nearly $11 billion deficit. In fact, according to the Office of Legislative Services, New Jersey's overall structural-deficit picture hasn't changed much. (See also last week's story, NJ jobs report the worst in 18 months, featured in Change of Subject's Chris Christie Reader)

Why, then, does the man some call "Gov. Wrecking Ball" remain relatively popular — a 51 percent approval rating in a recent poll — in his own state? Why is his name on everyone's short list for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination?

Well, he's pushed public-employee pension reforms and picked fights with their unions, which usually goes over well with the public. He's promoted changes to ethics laws as he's continued to sound the themes he campaigned on, and he's talked tea party tough about shrinking government in a state where citizens are saddled with the highest overall tax burden in the nation.

"He's outrageous, a bit like (former Minnesota governor and studio wrestler) Jesse Ventura," Wisniewski said. "It's great theater, but not good government."

A year from now, if Illinois voters let the curtain rise on the Bill Brady show, we may be saying the same.

"He's also now under fire for his recent decision to pull out of a project to build a tunnel connecting New Jersey to New York City because he said his state couldn't afford its $3.5 billion share of the cost. Supporters of the project say it would have easily repaid that investment over time, and Christie is being pennywise."

Better do some more homework on this one, Zorn. He's for the tunnel. He's against New Jersey taxpayers being on the hook for the inevitable cost overruns.

If a tunnel is budgeted for $3billion, you *know* the construction industry is going to make it cost $4 billion. The state has the extra $1 billion, they will pay it.

Can you image the howls if you had a $3 billion dollar tunnel to nowhere?

Standing up to the construction lobby? The unions?!? I only wish any politician in Illinois had 1/10 of his stones.

You seem to have gotten all of your information about Republican Governor Christie from the chairman of the New Jersey Democratic Party. And Christie comes off rather poorly. Gee, that's a surprise!

ZORN REPLY -- Jimmy, you're now on comment probation. These kinds of comments -- comments that don't add to the discussion but mere gripe about the source or about me -- add nothing to the conversation and indeed poison it to a degree. In this case, take a freakin' look at the Bill Brady reader, the next piece down in the blog, for the array of sources consulted/considered for this piece. And if you want to challenge any assertion or opinion with a contrary assertion or opinion of your own, knock yourself out. But really, I'll be happy to put you onto the same presumed-spam list where some of your bitter, snarky predecessors have ended up. Their comments aren't automatically posted, but reviewed when I have the time and posted only when they meet the minimum standards of relevance.

Wrong Stosh, he's against the tunnel!
New Jersey had previously agreed to be part of the tunnel's financing.
Christie is a fool!
And it's not that the tunnel money won't be spent, he wants to use it to build roads in the lightly populated southern part of the state, where the Pine Barrens are! Which oh, so coincidentally is where is greatest support is!
And what do you mean a tunnel to nowhere?
It's going to add two tracks to the leads of Penn Station, which is hopelessly clogged by having only two tracks for all the Amtrak & NJ Transit trains that use the 100 year old tunnels.
When completed, it would also allow a complete shutdown & inspection of those 100 year old tunnels. When that's complete, four track leads to the station.
Why do you think NYC is spending billions to build a third water tunnel to supply the city with water?
They're going to shut down 100 year old + tunnel #1 after #3 is complete, dewater it & repair or replace all the valves, many of which haven't been used in decades & it's believed they might not work.

I meant "tunnel to nowhere" as in 'we budgeted $3 billion for this, turns out it is really going to cost $4 billion+, but we aren't going to be on the hook for the extra overruns, so shut it down'. Now that would be political suicide. Safer to not build it in the first place.

If this tunnel is such a sure thing, why doesn't Goldman Sachs build it? JP Morgan? The Australian investment house that bought the Skyway for $1 billion?

stosh: "If this tunnel is such a sure thing, why doesn't Goldman Sachs build it? JP Morgan? The Australian investment house that bought the Skyway for $1 billion?"

If the tunnel project had gone ahead, they probably would have done exactly that by buying bonds issued by the state. That's how most capital improvement projects at the state and local level are funded stosh, though you don't seem to know that.

Steve W - And what happens when the state issues $3 billion in bonds - which GS and JPM buy up - and then the construction industry says 'Ooops! We need another $1 billion!'? Guess which evil banking institutions with their fat-cat bond traders will be right there to buy ANOTHER $1 billion in taxpayer backed bonds? Yes, these are the bond traders & underwriters that make seven figure salaries, with 7 figure bonuses every year, while Joe Sixpack's property taxes have to go up yet again to pay for it (and when I mean property taxes, I mean local dollars that are used to shore up the school system because the state doesn't have any money to fund the schools any more, since those tax dollars are going to pay the salaries of Wall Street executives)

I really, really wish some Democrat would find his/her backbone and explain why government spending is not only not bad, but it's necessary. I wish someone would explain that the stimulus and bailouts - while far too small - have actually improved the economy and will ultimately pay for themselves. I wish someone would explain that Obama - the evil socialist - is not the one who increased the national debt, but rather Bush's tax cuts, unfunded Medicare drug benefits and two wars did that. Gene Lyons had an excellent article on this yesterday in Salon.

Conservatives have been busily re-writing history to try to say that Roosevelt's New Deal policies didn't help (and in fact hurt) the nation. They say it took WWII to get us out of the Depression. The reality is, of course, that while it's true that the New Deal didn't raise the economy to pre-Depression levels, it did help significantly. It is also true that it took WWII to raise the economy to pre-Deprssion levels. But why do you think that is? Is there something about killing people that's good for the economy? Or could it be that WWII forced Massive Government Spending? Wouldn't it be great if we could find the will to spend that kind of money without killing people?

I wish some Democrat out there could explain that to the people. Perhaps that's too much to expect of someone like Quinn. But maybe someone with a reputation for amazing oratory skills. Someone who, in fact, charged his way into the highest office in the country on the strength of those skills.

Local governments "should" pay their own way. When did we ever get into the insane rut where state government gets to dole out funds collected locally back to local governments. If you think about it, it's just crazy. If my school district wants to spend $10, it should collect $10 - if we're willing to give it to them - not go around us and have Bigger Brother collect and and give it back to them. It's just a scam to circumvent local democracy.

Why is it Republicans always campaign on lowering taxes, but citizens, especially the middle class and poor, end up paying more in taxes and services by the time these guys are finished? Eric, you have finally succeeded in scaring me enough that I'll probably have to go with Quinn. Last night's debate, while good for a few laughs, also has me worried.

A very one-sided rant against Gov. Christie. I would be thrilled if 1 year from now our new governor has accomplished what Christie has and has changed the culture of spending in Springfield. Illinois is hurtling towards bankruptcy and we need a leader who will stand up to all the public employee unions and to the spend-happy politicians. Christie isn't perfect but he is on the right track. Can anyone honestly believe that Quinn is more likely to make progress on our budget problems than Brady?

Christie's problem was that New Jersey would be on the hook for unlimited cost overruns, similarly to what would have been the case for Chicago taxpayers had the city won the Olympics.

The original cost extimate for the project was $8.7 billion, to be shared $3 billion from the Federal Transit Administration, $3 billion from the Port Authority, and $2.7 billion from New Jersey. However, the cost has since risen to between $10.9 billion and $13.7 billion, and NJ Transit would have had to pay all of the difference, on top of their initial $2.7 billion share, to get the Federal matching money. Christie believed that in the current economic climate it was unwise to commit to that.

My grandfather worked for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. His office was in the railroad terminal that is just south of Liberty Park on the new Jersey side of the Hudson. In his day, New Jersey commuters to New York would arrive in that terminal by train, and take ferries across the Hudson to their jobs. That service could probably be reinstated for a lot less than digging tunnels under the river would cost!

Budget cuts never feel good but Governor Christie is on the right track. Illinois is in horrible financial condition, check out the website illinoisisbroke.com, it spells out reasons why this state is broke. One reason, Unionized State employee pension benefits are far better than most taxpayers, they can retire with full benefits at age 55 (or in some cases 50) with an average value of $1 million. PLUS free Health Insurance 100% paid by you! The Democrats are in the tank with the unions, they will not make the changes.

Christie's relatively popular because he's fighting the unions and paving the way for more structural reforms. The pension issue is a real problem there, but unless education spending is reined in, it's impossible to solve the structural issues. Every county had the opportunity to vote in higher local taxes if they wanted to restore funding. Few of those referendums passed.

As for the tax issue, note that NJ had, until recently, over a 9% income tax on upper incomes, which approached NYC levels and was well above PA's 3% rate. By allowing the "surcharge" to expire to the more reasonable but still high 7%, NJ became more competitive again. Christie complained about the brain drain to PA, and even the fact that many NJ government workers live in PA for the lower taxes.

Eric, for the life of me, I don't understand why you think Quinn would be better than Brady. At best, they would be equally ineffective. Are you also for Alexi Giannoulias over Mark Kirk? To me, that is an indefensible position, and would reveal that you are merely a partisan.

ZORN REPLY -- I was an early and frequent critic of Blagojevich and have put the whipping stick to any number of Democrats, but in the end these parties do stand for things and the Democrats tend to stand for many more of the things I believe in that the Republicans. Is it MERELY partisanship to support Brady and Kirk? Not necessarily. Anyway, you can read my debates with Dennis Byrne on these races here:

Once again, EZ's overall argument seems to be that if you haven't solved the entire budget problem by making cuts and standing up to unions, you have failed completely and might as well not even try. And savings from cutting waste and fraud are so trivial--why bother? You have to start somewhere, and with labor contracts in force, you can't change everything overnight.. But you can build toward success by changing the culture of a state that increasingly has been governed to serve its employees, whose unions own the politicians as much as they do in Illinois.

One can say it's "popular" to take on the unions, but careerwise, it can be suicidal. It takes spine, and an ability to articulate how out-of-control pensions and benefits have become. If it were so popular in terms of actually winning elections, lots of politicians would do it. In the current elections, AFSCME might be spending more than anyone else to defeat Republicans.With the schools, Christie did not impose draconian cuts, but he did tell school boards they had to control costs and he told the teachers that now is not the time for raises in a time when others are facing pay cuts. He had the audacity to ask the teachers to contribute 1.5 percent of salary to their health insurance premium. That is rather meager compared with what is common in the private sector pay, but of course is an increase over what the teachers currently pay, which is zero.

Our man Quinn of course, won't take on the unions on the smallest of matters.

"He also signed a cap of 2 percent per year on hikes in property taxes — taxes that a Gannett newspapers study found grew this year by an average 23 percent if you factor in the missing rebate. Such a cap sounds great, but critics say it's simply part of a shell game Christie is playing to force municipalities to own the painful cuts ahead."

Exactly! Except it's not a shell game. If you don't force municapalities to own the problem, they won't do anything! The stimulus package demonstrated that; it shoveled out money to the states who just used it to operate as usual and put off needed reckoning for a year. In my town, the municipal portion of the property tax is going up 3 percent simply to pay for ballooning pension costs; I don't know what I'm facing from the county and schools.

Typically the Democratic spokesman frames the choices as cutting services or raising taxes. But there is a third method that can at least help solve the problem: Get labor costs in line with those that prevail in the private sector, which pays most of the taxes for the whole shebang.

EZ scolds a commenter for not backing up a statement, and then lets the Democrat throw this one out:

"He's outrageous, a bit like (former Minnesota governor and studio wrestler) Jesse Ventura," Wisniewski said. "It's great theater, but not good government."

With the tunnel, he is being skewered by the "why can't we build huge public works projects anymore?" chorus for not joining in, but Christie is making the rather basic argument that his state is in dire fiscal condition right now, and unlike the federal government he can't print the money. Furthermore, an op-ed in yesterday's Times argued that New Jersey is being asked to shoulder an unfair share of the cost:

---Who would ever have thought? New Jersey Democratic Party Chairman John Wisniewski thinks that Chris Christie is outrageous and bad for government. What's next? Sharon Angle doesn't think that Harry Reid is doing a good job?

This is exactly what everyone is hoping for. Where is the controversy? Brady could improve on this model through disbanding certain state agencies, firing overpaid state workers, and cutting social services. However, even if he only does what Christie has done, it is a huge improvement. By the way, Christie is just getting started. This is real progress.

Good column Eric. As a former NJ resident, I can say this: Christie is a thug, plain and simple. His bully boy tactics plays well to the disenfranchised masses, but short of braying no new taxes and smaller government, he is a one trick pony. President? I doubt he will be reelecteed Governor again. Having said that, I think IL is in sad shape with both of its gov candidates. Is Quinn the lesser of two evils?

It is amazing to think that any state would not continue to do the necessary things to fight the deficit. We have a governor now that does not seem to understnad that cuts will be needed. And this is no matter who is in office. So lets get started and bear the pain now rather than do as our democrats have done (and some republicans too) by kicking the can down the road for the next guy to cut further. This applies nationally too. We can't spend more and have to spend less and we have to keep the same or lower taxes. If $1 million/yr pay a little more in taxes so be it but we all have to understand that taxes come form the middleclass becuase thats where the money is for the most part. And the middle class does not need to have the highest taxing in the country.
Face up to those facts. The middle class has been bearing the burden while union members get huge pensions that no one in private industry gets. And we are tired of it and tired of paying for it. And then theres bloated govenrment we dont want that either.
Dump Quinn as his only solution is higher taxes and giving into the unions. Lets try another way and if Govnr Christie's way is it then so be it.

So, he's been in office for 10 months, cut state spending 4% -- off, it sounds like, an inherited budget -- and the only complaint is that Christie hasn't closed the deficit that the opposing party built up over years? If any governor could cut Illinois' budget 4% by this time next year, that's good.

Were you aware that Illinois ranks 47th in states favorable to do business in? Yes, 47th. And that is why Illinois has lost over 400,000 jobs in the last 10 years. That figure isn't a two year number based upon the recent economy. People like Pat Quinn tout new jobs created at the Ford Plant (a plant that already existed) but you don't hear about how many companies have left or decided to expand/build new facilities in other states because Illinois has the country's highest costs for workers compensation and Unemployment Insurance tax on the employer. If you want more of the same, then go to the polls and vote for status quo.

And Eric, I'm really disappointed in your recent writings. I've always liked and respected you over the years, but your liberal stripes are off the mark. We aren't New Jersey, we are Illinois. New Jersey is it's own political circus. We are different circumstances. At least Brady knows how to run a business. Something Madigan, Blago, and Quinn know nothing about.

---Looks like the income tax rate in NJ is 7% now? And here people complain about 3% and a 1% surcharge for a few years (I know it's near 7% in WI, as well)? I also noticed how he made the cuts in education, and to the subsidy program for seniors & low income earners for their property tax, exactly what he promised NOT to do. Nice going, there. How does even a 10% cut, of the $25 billion or so that the state really has contol over, even begin to pay the $6 billion in overdue bills that are putting small businesses out of business, adding to the unemployment rolls. Too bad we can't have a surcharge on the rich only - a single rate (which Gov Quinn tried to ameliorate with a large deduction, especially for families) is in the Constitution.

Prior to the election of 2006, you were only critical about Blago for three things:

1. Trying to use taxpayer dollars to repair Pilgrim Baptist Church (Blago was merely trying to emulate Obama, who as a state senator funneled taxpayer money into St. Sabina) which was damaged in a fire.

2. Accepting campaign contributions in his daughter's name under the guise of a birthday present.

3. Ducking debates during the primary and general elections.

You did not go all Colonel Killgore on him until the budget summer of 2007 when it was clear he wasn't going to play nice with Madigan and was going to go rouge instead. That is when *everyone* piled on him.

The idea you were an 'early and frequent' critic of Blago is absolute poppycock. You, like the rest of the establishment were all about ga ga about him during his first term, despite his faults, and his well documented career, lifestyle, demeanor, and mental acumen.

ZORN REPLY -- Have you re-read all my blog posts as well as columns from 2002 to 2007? Invite you to do so.

Right, Dave, he ran it so well he didn't have to pay taxes because of his losses.

Brady has been part of politics in this state for over 17 years. Yet he says he doesn't know what to do until he has 'experts' look things over for him? That should take a year or two, if he plans on this forensic audit. Sounds like, to me, he doesn't 'know' how to run anything.

Last night in the debate, which I caught part of, when he wasn't repeating the same things over & over, I did catch Brady saying he was an outsider. After 17 years in the State Govt? PUH-LEEZE! And Stosh, I don't remember Blago "going rouge". No makeup at all. I think you mean "rogue"!

1. What time can I expect this article to be posted on The Huffington Post?

2. Bill Brady also said he admires Mitch Daniels of Indiana. Any chance you have the temerity to write a similar report on him and what he has done for Indiana? Not even Democrats will touch Daniels on his policies. Why? Because the policies are THAT GOOD.

Comment: Next time you write an article based almost solely on information provided to you by the party Chairman of a particular state, you might want to include and focus upon a few other sources that are a bit more impartial. For instance, if I wanted to write a rant on President Obama, I dont think I would rely solely (or even partially) upon what RNC Chairman Michael Steele had to say. His words kind of scream, ya know... BIAS! Just a quick tip. :)

ZORN REPLY -- Check the Bill Brady Reader on this page for a sampling of the sources consulted for this column.

"Who would ever have thought? New Jersey Democratic Party Chairman John Wisniewski thinks that Chris Christie is outrageous and bad for government. What's next? Sharon Angle doesn't think that Harry Reid is doing a good job? "

I especially like the quote in which Wisniewski compares Christie to Jesse Ventura. How can ANY reasonable person compare Christie, a traditional fiscally conservative Republican, to Ventura, a steroid-addled crackpot with no discernible ideology who is best known for being a 911 truther?

--As a finance professional, with things known as "depreciation and amortization" it's totally ethical and within accounting and tax standards to post a loss in the business when it is cash flow positive. And any business owner deducts those losses on their personal tax return. It's no different than what any other business owner does (i.e. the owners of Broadway Bank). I'm tired of the "Brady paid no taxes and his business lost money" retort.

If people want Illinois to continue to be 47th in a national list of states to do business in, then do a straight democratic vote next Tuesday. But don't complain to me when no new jobs get created and the economy continues to languish.

To all you out in Illinois, if Brady is a Christie clone you will be a very fortunate State. Just watch his appearances on YouTube Morning Joe, ABC This Week,
CNBC, Today Show, NBC Nightly News, etc....The bull coming from the printed liberal media is so shallow & easily exposed.

Last night Brady did say that his business lost money because of the collapse of the housing market. Maybe there was more, but he did mention this as part of it. Has there been some kind of a study as to why we're so low in the polls as a state to do business in? I've heard everything from high taxes (which would have to be business taxes, since our tax burden is actually pretty low, especially mid-state or lower) to high Workers Comp costs, to poor education funding (employers like well-educated potential employees), and the fact that we don't know how to balance our budget, even if it means more taxes to pay the bills. But I haven't really seen a study that would pinpoint what would have to be done to make it better. Except maybe change the climate & make it like Hawaii (I'd go for that myself).

What is wrong with pushing back against gov't unions? They are paid by our taxes. They give part of their money they earn to the union. The union then helps get elected politicians who support their adgenda... higher benefits and higher pay.

When their at the barganing table and your Pat Quinn he will give them all they want because they got him elected.

The financial crisis plaguing IL makes me sick. Being ranked 47th in the nation regarding other people's willingness to do business with us is beyond sad. What makes me even more upset is being ranked DEAD LAST NATIONWIDE in educational funding!!! I'm a teacher, so of course the education platform is one of the main focal points of my decison-making. Not to mention that when I have children, I'd like them to step into a situation where our school systems haven't gone to hell.

The Republican party will implement initiatives to help fix business related problems. Democrats will attempt to help educational funding (even though a decent job hasn't been done on this in AGES). Is there anyone out there who tries to do both!? Each party has its own priorities. Why can't we find a candidate who wants to do right by the citizens of this state in all aspects, rather than upholding their stereotypical political agendas?

I do agree that Quinn is the lesser of two evils. Something needs to be done for our children and educational funding. It won't happen under Brady's reign of terror. Our middle class is suffering already and he will only add to it (in my opinion).

I'm a second year teacher at the distict I work for and Brady going into office doesn't bode well for me. Even though I'm a veteran teacher with good evaluations through the years, I know my job and 20 others in my district will be on the chopping block if Brady is elected. We already have packed classrooms. Eliminating jobs from education will only create more problems, short-term and long-term.
It's a bad and worrysome time to be a teacher.

Re: Educational funding. It's almost become a running joke how many states claim to be dead last in education spending in a plea to spend more,
but I can't see any measure that puts Illinois in 50th--although it seems like in every state the advocates find some way to make the numbers work to "win" the race to be last. I realize that many people think the state itself spends too little, leaving schools too dependent on property taxes and harming schools in poor districts. That's an argument to have, not a reason to make hyperbolic claims.
My property taxes to the schools are sky high--twice that in Chicago. If they want to shift the funding, fine, but no rise in state funding unless there is a solemn promise to have the property taxes come down first. Otherwise, they never will go down, because that's how taxes are.http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2010/jul/07/bud-chiles/chiles-needs-schooling-education-rankings/

The problem with education funding isn't the amount of funding, it's how much gets diverted out of the classroom to pay for the big bureaucracies of each school system. It goes towards the salaries of the school board executives and bloated payrolls of administrators who trip over each other. I roll my eyes when all of these people scream panic over cutting school funds. I will panic when someone shows me that every dollar of school funding makes it to the classroom and the child. But until that happens it will take cutting educational funding to force these bureaucratic school districts to get their act together. No matter who gets in as governor, I'm fine with cutting education funding and forcing the school districts to displace their inefficiencies!

ZORN REPLY -- I was an early and frequent critic of Blagojevich and have put the whipping stick to any number of Democrats, but in the end these parties do stand for things and the Democrats tend to stand for many more of the things I believe in that the Republicans. Is it MERELY partisanship to support Brady and Kirk? Not necessarily. Anyway, you can read my debates with Dennis Byrne on these races here . . .

You kind of made my point. You have these columns criticizing Brady, when you could have written near identical columns criticizing Quinn (except he has actually been in office for a short time and done nothing). It is clear that you are in favor of Quinn because he belongs to a party that "tend[s] to stand for many more of the things I believe in..." The bill of particulars against Brady isn't an examination of the issues, it's just a partisan advertisement.

I actually had some respect for Quinn when he was a true independent. Just like Paul Simon--I rarely agreed with him, but I respected his sincerity. But once Quinn got into office, he showed he is no different than the rest of the Ds in Springfield.

I support Pat Quinn for re-election. My problem with Bill is this, during his entire campaign he has touted he will cut, cut, cut! The state budget is a matter of public record. Just do a search for "illinois state budget" and...voila...there it is! Why doesnt he say upfront what exactly he will cut. Mark my word if he is elected. More will be cut from education than from corrections. And study after study after study after study shows there is a direct correlation between a reduction in crime (and recidivism). Bill is just looking to keep his downstate union friends, employed...on the backs of everyone else.

@Dan: Eric is clearly a hyper-partisan liberal. He has never made any claim otherwise. The Trib has Kass on the other side and if Kass had a blog he'd probably be much more conservative there, just as Eric is much more liberal in his blog than in his printed stuff. He's an opinion guy, not a journalist. He's allowed to cheer for one side.

What gets me is that, in recent years, the liberals in the press have repeatedly lamented the rise of the Moral Majority and other socially conservative groups within the Republican Party who want to ban a woman's right to choose abortion and even want to ban fetal research. They have claimed to miss the "traditional Republicans" who concentrated on fiscal responsibility.

So now Chris Christie comes on the scene, a throwback to an older era, an old-fashioned skinflint Republican who downplays social issues and actually wants to cut spending. And, guess what. The liberals in the press don't like him either!

" I really, really wish some Democrat would find his/her backbone and explain why government spending is not only not bad, but it's necessary. I wish someone would explain that the stimulus and bailouts - while far too small - have actually improved the economy and will ultimately pay for themselves. I wish someone would explain that Obama - the evil socialist - is not the one who increased the national debt, but rather Bush's tax cuts, unfunded Medicare drug benefits and two wars did that...I wish some Democrat out there could explain that to the people. Perhaps that's too much to expect of someone like Quinn. But maybe someone with a reputation for amazing oratory skills. Someone who, in fact, charged his way into the highest office in the country on the strength of those skills." - Posted by: Dienne | Friday, October 29, 2010 at 06:09 AM

Dienne, if your ultra-skilled leader hasn't been able to make that case effectively at this juncture, perhaps you have to begin to ask yourself "why not?" Surely, something so simple and obvious would be easily explained by a man of such superior intellect.

Unless, of course, it's all B.S.

You may now carry on blaming Bush for everything while pretending to know more than everyone else.

Jerry, no politician is going to go into an election saying what he will cut. That only opens him up for criticsim ("How could you cut the defense budget, social security, funding for the arts, etc?"). That's why it is so exceptional that Paul Ryan has put forth a plan--it is an extremely risky proposition for him. What is Quinn's plan? Better yet, why hasn't he implemented it?

Alex, I realize that EZ is a liberal. I also realize he is allowed to use his column to present his opinions. I just thought he was a more thoughtful person than he has evidenced with these recent columns. All I have to do is pick up all the robocalls if I want to get the "party line."

Why would a business want to locate in Illinois, knowing how far behind the state is financially and knowing that if it locates here, it will have to help to pay that debt off?

Starting in the 1930's, Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) built locomotives in west suburban McCook. In the 1970's, the UAW union hall, located diagonally across the corner of 55th and East Avenue from the plant, had a sign in front saying, "World's Largest Locomotive Builders." About 1987, GM relocated locomotive assembly to its London, Ontario plant; it was too expensive to build locomotives in McCook any more. A few years later, the union hall was torn down; the local couldn't support it any more. In 2005, GM sold EMD to a financial consortium; in August of this year, EMD was sold again, this time to Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail. Today, Progress Rail announced that it would build a new locomotive assembly facility in the U.S. Guess what - it's not going to be in Illinois, it'll be in Muncie, Indiana. The press release quotes Mitch Daniels as saying, “We’ve worked hard to build the best sandbox for business so that opportunities that come nearly once a century, like Progress Rail’s locomotive assembly operation, continue to come to Indiana.”

That's classic. Bush was president for 8 of the 10 years of this decade but somehow--magically--nothing Obama inherited can be attributed to Bush. Funny how I *still* hear conservatives whine about Bill Clinton and I actually hear conservatives complaining about Obama blaming Bush exponentially more than I hear Obama actually do it.

And Alex, it would appear based on Eric Zorn's 20 years reporting and writing for the Tribune, that he *is* a journalist. I'm curious what your definition of journalist is that does not include what Eric Zorn does--maybe you could enlighten us.

ZORN REPLY -- 30 years, actually. I still report. A lot. I'm not a "straight" journalist in that I don't present neutral accounts or summaries on many topics. I have a point of view. I offer it, I explain it. I back it up. When Alex and others don't agree with that point of view, they often pivot and start hurling insults they never would have hurled if my views dovetailed with their own. Somehow, I can take it.

@Alex I will say that I get bothered when columnists who just sit back and publish opinions are called "journalists" simply because they are published in a newspaper. I realize it is a blurry term, but EZ fully qualifies as a "journalist" because he abides by the blurry rules of that term. I do not consider Paul Krugman a journalist, because he does nothing that I would classify as journalism--ie, ever do anything that constitutes reporting. The same goes for Pat Buchanan or similar types on the right. Much as I usually disagree with him, EZ does what I would call a "reported column"; that term would also apply to Bob Novak, whom the left has always hated but was a houndog of a reporter. As EZ notes, he has decades of a record as a reporter, and he hasn't thrown that behind him for total navel-gazing.. He calls people; he tries to cite sources. He generally says, this is what I have dug up--what do you got? As I said, I usually don't agree with him, but if he hits you, the best way to hit him back is to try to hit him back with parries that also fall under the notion of journalistic tactics.

---DaveB:
GM moved Electro-Motive's assembly operations to Ontario because Canada has single payer health care, so that GM's payments for healthcare came out of their's & their employee's taxes, along with everyone else's taxes in Canada.

GM's hypocrisy on healthcare & taxes were appallingly shortsighted & led to its bankruptcy.

On top of that, GM was the largest & most experienced builder of hybrid vehicles in the world!
But they were also shortsighted on that & failed to transfer that technology from locomotives to cars!

Here's my issue: We had Ryan and know how that all worked out. Then, we got Blagojevich and his "pay to play" politics and then Quinn took over for the last two years. All the while, no one has stood up to Madigan or Cullerton and Quinn has done little or nothing. We rob Peter to pay Paul and that's no way to run a business which, in effect, the state is. In addition, Quinn has patted himself on the back for working out a deal with Navistar.... an Illinois company since the day they were formed.... when in reality he should have been involved sooner and told the NIMBY neighbors that there was a company there before and there will be a company there again! Then you have the chest pounding over the hiring at Ford.... ANOTHER operation that's been in Illinois for generations! So now I ask: where are the NEW companies?

Now, maybe Brady won't lower the minimum wage either but he's at least considering it. Quinn thinks it's great that Illinois has the highest wage rate in the country. Think that will attract businesses? Me either. No, Mr. Zorn. I will take my chances with Brady any day and I don't really care all that much what happens in New Jersey any more than they care what happens here.

Garry, the single-payer health care was part of it, but the favorable currency exchange rate, and the fact that the CAW people at the London plant would do the same job for less money than the UAW people in McCook were major factors too.

And, the locomotives aren't hybrids. They're diesels with an electric transmission. They differ from hybrids in that they have no energy storage device, and no way to recover braking energy. Now, the Railpower Green Goats - those are hybrids, but they tend to burn down a lot.

What really led to GM's bankruptcy was its cost structure. Everything, long product cycles leading to cars becoming obsolete while still in production, all the problems, goes back to that. GM just had to spend too much money to build a car, to build cars that they had to force into the market by rebates and Employee Pricing for Everyone, and to support its retirees, that it didn't have much money left over for product development, and ultimately didn't have money left over for anything. And finally, when the economy turned down, and nobody needed to buy a car because the car companies had force-fed the market for so long, that was the last straw.

"ZORN REPLY -- I'd rather he bray "Let's all be grown-ups and realize that there's no simple or painless way out of this, we're all going to have to sacrifice a few of our sacred cows.""

But isn't this exactly what Christie is doing in New Jersey? Sacred cows such as the teachers' unions contributions of 1.5% toward their health care and a huge union construction project cancelled. It sounds to me like sacred cows are being sacrificed, their just not the sacred cows that you would like them to be.

Let's face it, if Christie - or anybody else wishing to be a governor in a state - wishes to one day raise taxes, they had better prove that every single penny of government spending necessitating the tax increase is absolutely necessary. I can't believe the critique of Christie in your article in that he's had one whole year (while cutting $1.5 billion in that year) in office. He's actually faced down the teachers unions in New Jersey, and in various venues has made them look foolish in their protests. He is slaughtering some sacred cows, and it's still early.

Now translate this to Illinois. The Democratic response to budgetary shortfalls is "Raise taxes!". The public is about to respond, "Get lost!" While he hasn't been specific in how much re-engineering he'll be able to incorporate into Illinois government, and least Brady is going to try it (I doubt Cullerton and Madigan are going anywhere). I hope he goes right after the unions and their bloated pension system, and I also hope he has the stones to take on the teachers unions as well. It's long overdue and as long as Brady says he'll try, he's got my vote. The financials model of the state and the public school system is untenable - pure and simple.

The sacred cows are howling in New Jersey, and I can't wait to hear howling coming from Springfield as well.

DaveB:
You don't know what a hybrid is.
All of EMD & GE's locomotives are hybrids.
Almost all of them come with dynamic [rheostatic] braking.
They don't have to store the electricity to be a hybrid.
The diesel engine [the prime mover] turns a generator & that electricity is supplied to the traction motors.
Therefore: A hybrid!

A hybrid is a vehicle that can move itself by either or both of two sources of power. Generally, today, that means an internal combustion engine and/or an electric motor using stored energy from a battery. (The ultimate source of that energy is, of course, the engine, whether it's generated and directly stored (e.g., Green Goats) or recovered by regenerative braking.)

EMD's locomotives have no energy storage. The generator/traction motor arrangement is just a transmission, having the great advantage of decoupling engine speed and power from locomotive ground speed, with certain limitations. The dynamic braking energy is burned off in resistive grids, contributing nothing besides increasing the entropy of the universe. They're not hybrids, though with the ability to store and recover energy added they could be.

But, I'm breaking one of my cardinal rules here: "Don't feed the trolls." We're off the subject: Why, while Progress Rail had a subsidiary with a long history of building locomotives in Illinois, did it choose to build its new locomotive assembly facility in Indiana?

I want some Christie hater tell me what he has done that is so bad or has actually harmed someone, short of not giving them a pay raise. I want some Quinn supporter to tell me what the "plan" is other that to continue to let Madigan and Cullerton run the corrupt swamp and drive business out of the state, and accept everything as it is and simply raise the income tax to accommodate it.

And it is not like taxes have been stagnant. We now pay 10 cents on the dollar on most common purchases--about the highest in the nation. Whenever the price of gas goes up, our taxes go up, because in Illinois, gas is taxed on a percentage. Property taxes keep on going up. Anyone looked at their phone bill lately? When I take a cab to ORD now, I pay an additional 2 dollars (4 total) thanks to a recent tax increase (sounds great--tax tourists! Except that locals who go to the airport a lot are likely to pay more than any given tourist coming to Chicago).

Zorn, Kass, Krauthammer, and George Will are POV pundits – not journalists. Nothing wrong with being a POV pundit. I admire the last two.

Journalism is digging up the facts and presenting them in an absolutely fair and balanced way. Web surfing and linking to or paraphrasing the opinions of others is a useful service but it is not journalism.

I assume at times that Zorn has interviewed people and probably asked incisive and probing questions. And if Zorn reports the results of his interview in a fair and balanced way he is being a journalist.

The two hats –journalist and pundit with a POV –are incompatible. To argue otherwise is 1984 double speak

Pensions have to get paid. Why are people proud and excited that firefighters, police officers, EMT's and teachers of any state now have an underfunded pension? Did you know that all these state employees DO NOT receive any social security at all? Ever? If the pensions go unfunded, they die penniless? Did you know that if their spouses die they are not eligible for any of their social security, unlike yourself or any other American?

People are so willing to be vicious whether they have the facts or not.

Don't worry, B Martin: Firehouses and schools will close before any retiree does not get their pension payment, because Illinois taxpayers are on the hook no matter what. The underfunding gets picked up by the majority of taxpayers not getting pensions, not the group that gets them.

And boy do I wish I could get out of paying the Social Security tax and instead have a guaranteed lifetime payment waiting for me as I stop working at 55 or 58 (or younger in the case of many cops and firefighters).

Compare what Social Security pays versus what we are compelled by law to put into it versus Illinois pensions and what govt workers put in, and the difference is a joke.
If the pensioner dies, the spouse does continue to receive a benefit, so I have no idea what you are talking about.

It bothers me that so many are so focused on the Governor's race when we all need to step back and look at the bigger picture in Illinois.

I saw part of the Tribune's interview of Quinn, Brady and the others (Whitney came off as the most well-prepared and with the most common sense), and it angered me that Quinn didn't counter Brady's attacks on him about the budget. Our State Constitution requires a balanced budget, yet for nearly a generation our General Assembly (which is supposed to develop the budget) has used ridiculous accounting practices to hide our deficits and debts. Brady has been part of that Assembly for 17 years, including the last two when the Assembly has given Quinn unprecedented power over the budget because they didn't have the political will to either make difficult cuts or call for a more reliable source of revenue (increased taxes). Why didn't Quinn call attention to this when Brady kept attacking him for his call for increased taxes? Quinn may not be a polished speaker or even a very good politician (because he hasn't been able to effectively call out Madigan and Cullerton for their responsibility in this mess), but at least he has the guts to say that everyone (except the lowest earners in Illinois) has to kick in a little bit more if we are ever going to right the ship.

Many organizations, including the Civic Federation (http://www.civicfed.org/), have said that there is no way we can just "cut" our way out of our financial hole. It must be a combination of strategic cuts as well as increased revenue.

As a teacher, I cannot argue that my retirement benefits are "worse" than the private sector because it is obvious that my pension (if it isn't bankrupted soon) is superior to Social Security. But "B Martin" is right- not only are state-pensioners frozen out of Social Security, but their spouses who may have paid into SS may have their benefit reduced or even eliminated. The state made this decision because they didn't want to be mandated by federal law to pay their half of the SS tax. This gave them ability to duck out of their portion of the contributions to the pension system whenever they wanted (see lack of political will above). The governor and Assembly have done just that over the course of several decades (Democrat and Republican alike). Meanwhile, state employees like me have always given our share (9.4% of my salary) toward the system. Since I am giving almost 50% more towards my retirement out of my salary, can't I expect to receive a little bit more than SS (6.2%)? Why shouldn't expect the state (and the taxpayers) to pay their share just as every other employer is required to do under social security? The only reason our pensions are "bloated" is because state contributions have been so "lean" over the years. It isn't right.

Is it ridiculous that some people are making hundreds of thousands of dollars in pensions because of loopholes and double-dipping? Sure. But I am tired of people not looking at the bigger picture.

Please pay careful attention to your votes in the Assembly, not just in the governor's race.

---@Eric - Yes, I understand that you find people who don't agree with you to be insulting.

ZORN REPY -- Not at all! There are many people who come to this page and with whom I engage regularly -- Stantis and Byrne, to name two -- who manage to disagree with me in a civil and productive way. Those conversations don't devolve. And I suppose I should be more patient with those who say incredibly stupid things such as that I'm insulted by anything with which I don't agree, and yet I find that difficult.

@Eric: I'm not sure how I insulted you. Here's my original post defending your right to be partisan:

"Eric is clearly a hyper-partisan liberal. He has never made any claim otherwise. The Trib has Kass on the other side and if Kass had a blog he'd probably be much more conservative there, just as Eric is much more liberal in his blog than in his printed stuff. He's an opinion guy, not a journalist. He's allowed to cheer for one side."

One could assume you were insulted by my claim that you're an opinion guy, not a journalist, but you yourself followed up with "'I'm not a straight journalist".

If you can direct me to one instance where I insulted you without any context of facts I'll gladly apologize.

ZORN REPLY -- In saying that I'm insulted by anything that disagrees with me, you insult me. Sort of circular, I admit.

In response to rmjones6's comment:
Where have you been for the last 10 years?! IT IS NOT the "Democratic Machine" that got us in this mess. Clinton left office with a balanced budget. Bush came in, and now we are in a massive financial crisis. The worst ever. Obviously, what happens at the federal level trickles to the states. Also, you seem to have forgotten about former Governor Ryan!

About "Change of Subject."

"Change of Subject" by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn contains observations, reports, tips, referrals and tirades, though not necessarily in that order. Links will tend to expire, so seize the day. For an archive of Zorn's latest Tribune columns click here. An explanation of the title of this blog is here. If you have other questions, suggestions or comments, send e-mail to ericzorn at gmail.com.
More about Eric Zorn

Contributing editor Jessica Reynolds is a 2012 graduate of Loyola University Chicago and is the coordinator of the Tribune's editorial board. She can be reached at jreynolds at tribune.com.